Personal Finance and Investing
Cheap Ways to Feed a Family of 4
Grocery bills are getting more costly every month. If you are trying to feed a family of 4 or more, it can quickly become a struggle to keep the fridge stocked and the family from bemoaning ‘pasta again?’. Here are some tips for keeping your family fed without breaking the bank: Preplan Your Menu If [...]
File Taxes by Deadline – Even If You Can’t Pay
When the April income tax deadline arrives, you better be sure you have your documents and tax information filed on time and that means even if you can’t afford to pay the tax bill. For whatever reason you end up owing federal or state taxes, you have to file your income tax forms on time [...]
Change Your Life? Check Your Withholdings
Those that are employed for an extended period of time may forget to keep up with their human resource information, especially where their income is concerned. But any change in life circumstances may require a change on your withholdings documents. If you have gotten married, divorced, added dependents, or can no longer claim previous dependents, [...]
What Might Trigger an IRS Tax Audit?
It’s tax time again, and as you’re getting all of your documents together to prepare for filing, you’re probably hoping to get as many tax deductions. In 2010, about 1.5 million people who filed the most common return on IRS Form 1040 were audited – only about 1.1% of tax filers. On the other hand, [...]
5 Reasons You Should Pay Attention to Receipts
For many consumers, receipts are just a nuisance that are quickly thrown away. But receipts play an important part in our personal financial life. It can be wise to get into the habit of storing receipts in a shoebox, basket or filing folder so you’ll have what you need for budgeting and tax purposes. Make [...]
Two Money Management Strategies to Reach Your Goals Faster
There isn’t much you can do about the current economic conditions, but you always have control over managing your money. If you’re not afraid to spend some money in exchange for reaching your goals faster, you can take steps to maximize your finances that people who prefer to be frugal and cut expenses won’t try. [...]
5 Ways to Supplement Your Lacking Income
Many working families still cannot fully make ends meet and live from one paycheck to the next. Those families have found that after calculating their monthly expenses from their monthly income, the sum total is in the negative. In this common scenario, there are typically two choices: You can cut some expenses out of your [...]
Tips to Avoid Paying Late Fees
Late fees are unnecessary expenses that rob you of your hard earned money and leave long term damage to your credit score. For many people, the late fees they pay to their credit cards cost more than the minimum payment itself! Learn the following tips to avoid paying late fees – and also a strategy [...]
The CARD Act and Credit Cardholder Rights
Credit card companies have long been the source of consumer complaints regarding excessive and unreasonable fees and penalties. In addition, for many years, credit card users found themselves dealing with unreasonable, and often times, downright rude customer service. The downturn in the economy triggered even more aggressive behavior and antics from the credit card companies. [...]
How to Choose a Credit Card
Competition between different credit card companies is fierce, and they will compete with one another to attract new cardholders through introductory offers, rewards programs, and cardholder perks. The offers from credit cards are tempting, but none of these often temporary programs should be the reason you choose a credit card over the others. Here are [...]
Saving Money Despite Durbin Amendment Bank Changes
Consumers need to pay a lot more attention to every detail of their finances these days if they wish to save as much as they intend. With the recent addition of the Durbin Amendment to the rules of banking, consumers are even more hard-pressed to get very involved in their money matters, especially where their [...]
4 Money Mistakes Common in Marriage
When you get married, there are a lot of changes that take place. A big change but one not talked about enough is the combining of two different financial lives. While many arguments between married couples are linked to money, combining financials is not always the issue at hand. But different money management styles can [...]
Avoid Credit Card Skimming Scams
The holiday season is a time of increased credit card and debit card skimming scams. The number of people shopping and spending money is increased, and the majority of people rely on their debit or credit cards during the holiday season – making it a prime time of year for credit and debit card skimming [...]
Do I Have a Debt Problem? 5 Tips for Evaluating Your Situation
It can be so easy to recognize problems of others but when it comes to analyzing your own personal situation, it may not be as simple. This is especially true if the problems you are experiencing surround money issues. There are millions of Americans that have struggled with financial hardships at one time or another. [...]
How to Utilize Credit Cards to Boost Credit Score
Credit scores are a very important three-digit number that essentially reflects your financial stability. Without a good credit score, you can expect to pay higher rates for basic services and risk being turned down for credit cards and other financing. One way to boost credit scores and improve your credit history is to utilize a [...]
Reconsider How You Bank: Tips for Making a Change
With the many new regulations being imposed on and by the large national banks, consumers need to keep up with the times in order to stay ahead financially. Banks used to compete for business by offering a large selection of free services. These services have become so common for banking customers few actually realize when [...]
How to Start Your Budget for a New Year
Long before the start of a new year, you should already be tracking your financial over the past several months to make it easier to start a revised budget for a new year. While many people wait until the absolutely last minute to collect their data for taxes, it is to their own detriment. Here [...]
How to Improve Your Credit Score
Your credit score plays an important role in your life – not only does it affect your ability to get credit, but it’s also used in the calculation of your car insurance premiums, whether or not you can rent an apartment, and can even prevent you from getting hired. A low credit score can affect [...]
Unemployment claims down – are the bad times over?
As the global economy continues to stutter and debate rages about the best way to tackle the crisis, theUSfinally had some news to cheer about: it was revealed that the number of unemployment claimants fell to the lowest levels in nearly six months. So does this mean that the fears of a double dip recession [...]
Buying a home? Avoid paying extra fees
Buying a home can be complicated enough, but sorting through all those additional fees can leave everyone feeling confused and ripped off. Before you settle with extra costs on your mortgage, think about which fees you can fight to avoid. Everyone has heard about closing costs, but few people actually know what they consist of. [...]
What Women Must Know During Every Life Event
Financial ignorance has the tendency to hurt women (and their children, if they have any) in a variety of life situations. While it would be impossible to prepare for every possible situation, having some basic knowledge regarding your finances can be a life saver in some of the more common events. Here are a few [...]
How NOT to use a balance transfer credit card
Credit cards are a valuable tool when managed properly and responsibly, and can offer several benefits over traditional cash or debit cards. For example, using a credit card for purchases over $100 offers additional protection if the vending company goes bust or fails to complete the order, compared to payment by other forms. Credit cards [...]
You Can Make Money With Borrowed Money
The wealthy people of the world get wealthier from “free” money – the interest their account balances and investments earn over time. There are ways the rest of us can earn a little extra money from borrowed money – and if done correctly, we won’t be charged more in interest than the amount earned on [...]
What Type of Credit Card is Right For You?
With so many different types of credit cards available, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with the choice. Understanding the differences between cards can help you find the perfect match for your circumstances. There are around ten main types of credit cards available and companies are always looking for new types of cards. The [...]
Social Security Adminstration Plans to Eliminate Paper Checks
If you are waiting by the mailbox for your new Social Security check you are going to have a long wait. The Social Security Administration announced that anyone signing up to receive Social Security benefits next week will not be eligible to receive paper checks through the mail. In fact, other government benefits recipients will [...]
Consumer Spending Increased in March Thanks to Rising Prices
Consumers have been shown to increase the amount of money they spent through the month of March, largely due to the necessity to pay for higher gasoline prices and rising grocery costs. While the outlook may appear to be good for the economy, there is a bigger financial strange on the personal finances of American [...]
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Set To Stop Offering Debit Card Rewards
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) recently announced that they will stop offering new banking customers debit card rewards beginning this April. Wells Fargo joins other banks who have also recently announced similar cuts. As of April 15th new Wells Fargo customers will no longer be able to enroll in a debit card rewards program. Current debit [...]
I agree. If a local business is the one offering the sale price I will buy it from them. ...
We are retired and live on a grocery budget of $200 a month for 2 people in the Midwest. That ...